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damage; and (3) that the vegetable food consists almost entirely of wild fruits
which have no economic value. These facts, taken in connection with its well-
known enmity for hawks and crows, entitle the kingbird to a place among the
most desirable birds of the orchard or garden.
 THE PHŒBE.
(Sayornis phœbe.)
Among the early spring arrivals at the North, none more welcome than the
phœbe (fig. 7). Though, naturally building its nest under an overhanging cliff
of rock or earth, or in the mouth of a cave, its preference for the vicinity of
farm buildings is so marked that in the more thickly settled parts of the
country the bird is seldom seen at any great distance from a farmhouse
except where a bridge spans some stream, affording a secure spot for a nest.
Its confiding disposition has rendered it a great favorite, and consequently it
is seldom disturbed. It breeds throughout the United States east of the Great
Plains, and winters from the South Atlantic and Gulf States southward.

Fig. 7.—Phœbe.

The phœbe subsists almost exclusively upon insects, most of which are
caught upon the wing. An examination of 80 stomachs showed that over 93
per cent of the year's food consists of insects and spiders, while wild fruit
constitutes the remainder. The insects belong chiefly to noxious, species, and
include many click beetles. May beetles, and weevils. Grasshoppers in their
season are eaten to a considerable extent, while wasps of various species,
many flies of species that annoy cattle, and a few bugs and spiders are also
eaten regularly. It is evident that a pair of phœbes must materially reduce the
number of insects near a garden or field, as the birds often, if not always,
raise two broods a year, and each brood numbers from four to six young.
The vegetable portion of the food is unimportant, and consists mainly of a
few seeds, with small fruits, such as wild cherries, elder berries, and juniper
berries. The raspberries and blackberries found in the stomachs were the only
fruits that might have banged to cultivated varieties, and the quantity was
trifling.
There is hardly a more useful species than the phœbe about the farm, and
it should receive every encouragement. To furnish nesting boxes is
unnecessary, as it usually prefers a more open situation, like a shed, or a
nook under the eaves, but it should be protected from cats and other
marauders.
 THE BLUE JAY.
(Cyanocitta cristata.)
The blue jay (fig. 8) is a common bird of the United States east of the
Great Plains, and remains throughout the year in most of its range, although
its numbers are somewhat reduced in winter in the Northern States. During
spring and summer the jay is forced to become an industrious hunter for
insects, and is not so conspicuous a feature of the landscape as when it
roams the country at will after the cares of the nesting season are over.

Fig. 8.—Blue Jay.

Ornithologists and field observers in general declare that a considerable

portion of its food in spring and early summer consists of the eggs and young
of small birds, and some farmers accuse it of stealing corn to an injurious
extent in the fall. While there may be some truth in these accusations, they
have almost certainly been exaggerated. No doubt many jays have been
observed robbing nests of other birds, but thousands have been seen that
were not so engaged.
In an investigation of the food of the blue jay 292 stomachs were
examined, which showed that animal matter comprised 24 per cent and
vegetable matter 70 per cent of the bird's diet. So much has been said about
the nest robbing habits of the jay that special search was made for traces of
birds or birds' eggs in the stomachs, with the result that shells of small birds'
eggs were found in three and the remains of young birds in only two
stomachs. Such negative evidence is not sufficient to controvert the great
mass of testimony upon this point, but it shows that the habit is not so
prevalent as has been believed. Besides birds and their eggs, the jay eats
mice, fish, salamanders, snails, and crustaceans, which altogether constitute
but little more than 1 per cent of its diet. The insect food is made up of
beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and a few species of other orders, all
noxious, except some 3½ per cent of predaceous beetles. Thus something
more than 19 per cent of the whole food consists of harmful insects. In
August the jay, like many other birds, turns its attention to grasshoppers,
which constitute nearly one-fifth of its food during that month. At this time,
also, most of the other noxious insects, including caterpillars, are consumed,
though beetles are eaten chiefly in spring.
The vegetable food is quite varied, but the item of most interest is grain.
Corn was found in 70 stomachs, wheat in 8, and oats in 2—all constituting 19
per cent of the total food. Corn is evidently the favorite grain, but a closer
inspection of the record shows that the greater part was eaten during the first
five months of the year, and that very little was taken after May, even in
harvest time, when it is abundant. This indicates that most of the corn is
gleaned from the fields after harvest, except what is stolen from cribs or
gathered in May at planting time.
The jay's favorite food is mast (i. e., acorns, chestnuts, chinquapins, etc.),
which was found in 158 of the 292 stomachs and amounted to more than 42
per cent of the whole food. In September corn formed 15 and mast 35 per
cent, while in October, November, and December corn dropped to an almost
inappreciable quantity and mast amounted to 64, 82, and 83 per cent,
respectively. And yet in these months corn is abundant and everywhere easily
accessible. The other elements of food consist of a few seeds and wild fruits,
among which grapes and blackberries predominate.
The results of the stomach examination show, (1) that the jay eats many
noxious insects; (2) that its habit of robbing the nests of other birds is much
less common, than has been asserted; and (3) that it does little harm to
agriculture, since all but a small amount of the corn eaten is waste grain.
 THE CROW.
(Corvus americanus.)
There are few birds so well known as the common crow, and unlike most
other species he does not seem to decrease in numbers as the country
becomes more densely populated. The crow is commonly regarded as a
blackleg and a thief. Without the dash and brilliancy of the jay, or the bold
savagery of the hawk, he is accused of doing more mischief than either. That
he does pull up sprouting corn, destroy chickens, and rob the nests of small
birds has been repeatedly proved. Nor are these all of his sins. He is known to
eat frogs, toads, salamanders, and some small snakes, all harmless creatures
that do some good by eating insects. With so many charges against him, it
may be well to show why he should not be utterly condemned.
The examination of a large number of stomachs, while confirming all the
foregoing accusations, has thrown upon the subject a light somewhat
different from that derived slowly from field observation. It shows that the
bird's nesting habit, as in the case of the jay, is not so universal as has been
supposed; and that, so far from being a habitual nest robber, the crow only
occasionally indulges in that reprehensible practice. The same is true in regard
to destroying chickens, for he is able to carry off none but very young ones,
and his opportunities for capturing them are somewhat limited. Neither are
many toads and frogs eaten, and as frogs are of no great practical value, their
destruction is not a serious matter; but toads are very useful, and their
consumption, so far as it goes, must be counted against crow. Turtles,
crayfishes, and snails, of which he eats quite a large number, may be
considered neutral, while mice may be counted to his credit.
In his insect food, however, the crow makes amends for sins in the rest of
his dietary, although even here the first item is against him. Predaceous
beetles are eaten in some numbers throughout the season, but the number is
not great. May beetles, "dor-bugs," or June bugs, and others of the same
family, constitute the principal food during spring and early summer, and are
fed to the young in immense quantities. Other beetles, nearly all of a noxious
character, are eaten to a considerable extent. Grasshoppers are first taken in
May, but not in large numbers until August, when, as might be expected, they
form the leading article of diet, showing that the crow is no exception to the
general rule that most birds subsist, to a large extent, upon grasshoppers in
the month of August. Many bugs, some caterpillars, mostly cutworms, and
some spiders are also eaten—all of them either harmful or neutral in their
economic relations. Of the insect diet Mr. E. A. Schwarz says: "The facts, on
the whole, speak overwhelmingly in favor of the crow."
Probably the most important item in the vegetable food is corn, and by
pulling up the newly sprouted seeds the bird renders himself extremely
obnoxious. Observation and experiments with tame crows show that hard, dry
corn is never eaten if anything else is to be had, and if fed to nestlings it is
soon disgorged. The reason crows resort to newly planted fields is that the
kernels of corn are softened by the moisture of the earth, and probably
become more palatable in the process of germination, which changes the
starch of the grain to sugar. The fact, however, remains that crows eat corn
extensively only when it has been softened by germination or partial decay, or
before it is ripe and still "in the milk." Experience has shown that they may be
prevented from pulling up young corn by tarring the seed, which not only
saves corn but forces them to turn their attention to insects. If they persist in
eating green corn it is not so easy to prevent the damage; but no details of
extensive injury in this way have yet been presented and it is probable that no
great harm has been done.
Crows eat fruit to some extent, but confine themselves for the most part
to wild species, such as dogwood, sour gum, and seeds of the different kinds
of sumac. They have also a habit of sampling almost everything which
appears eatable, especially when food is scarce. For example, they eat frozen
apples found on the trees in winter, or pumpkins, turnips, and potatoes which
have been overlooked or neglected; even mushrooms are sometimes taken,
probably in default of something better.
In estimating the economic status of the crow, it must be acknowledged
that he does some damage, but, on the other hand, he should receive much
credit for the insects which he destroys. In the more thickly settled parts of
the country the crow probably does more good than harm, at least when
ordinary precautions are taken to protect young poultry and newly-planted
corn against his depredations. If, however, corn is planted with no provision
against possible marauders, if hens and turkeys are allowed to nest and to
roam with their broods at a distance from farm buildings, losses must be
expected.
 THE BOBOLINK, OR RICEBIRD.
(Dolichconyx oryzivorus)
The bobolink (fig. 9) is a common summer resident of the United States,
north of about latitude 40°, and from New England westward to the Great
Plains, wintering beyond our southern border. In New England there are few
birds, if any, around which so much romance has clustered; in the South none
on whose head so many maledictions have been heaped. The bobolink,
entering the United States from the South at a time when the rice fields are
freshly sown, pulls up the young plants and feeds upon the seed. Its stay,
however, is not long, and it soon hastens northward, where it is welcomed as
a herald of summer. During its sojourn in the Northern States it feeds mainly
upon insects and small seeds of useless plants; but while rearing its young,
insects constitute its chief food, and almost the exclusive diet of its brood.
After the young are able to fly, the whole family gathers into a small flock and
begins to live almost entirely upon vegetable food. This consists for the most
part of weed seeds, since in the North these birds do not appear to molest
grain to any great extent. They eat a few oats, but their stomachs do not
reveal a great quantity of this or any other grain. As the season advances they
gather into larger flocks and move southward, until by the end of August
nearly all have left their breeding grounds. On their way they frequent the
reedy marshes about the mouths of rivers and on the inland waters of the
coast region, subsisting largely upon wild rice. After leaving the Northern
States they are commonly known as reed birds, and having become very fat
are treated as game.
They begin to arrive on the rice fields in the latter part of August, and
during the next month make havoc in the ripening crop. It is unfortunate that
the rice districts lie exactly in the track of their fall migration, since the
abundant supply of food thus offered has undoubtedly served to attract them
more and more, until most of the bobolinks bred in the North are
concentrated with disastrous effect on the south east coast when the rice
ripens in the fall, there was evidently a time when no such supply of food
awaited the birds on their journey southward, and it seems probable that the
introduction of rice culture in the South, combined with the clearing of the
forests in the North, thus affording a larger available breeding area, has
favored an increase in the numbers of this species. The food habits of the
bobolink are not necessarily easily inimical to the interests of agriculture. It
simply happens that the rice affords a supply of food more easily obtainable
than did the wild plants which formerly occupied the same region. Were the
rice fields at a distance from the line of migration, or north of the bobolinks'
breeding ground, they would probably never be molested; but lying, as they
do, directly in the path of migration, they form a recruiting ground, where the
birds can rest and accumulate flesh and strength for the long sea flight which
awaits them in their course to South America.

Fig. 9.—Bobolink.

The annual loss to rice growers on account of bobolinks has been

estimated at $2,000,000. In the face of such losses it is evident that no mere
poetical sentiment should stand in the way of applying any remedy which can
be devised. It would be unsafe to assume that the insects which the birds
consume during their residence in the North can compensate for such
destruction. If these figures are any approximation to the truth, the ordinary
farmer will not believe that the bobolink benefits, the Northern half of the
country nearly as much as it damages the Southern half, and the thoughtful
ornithologist will be inclined to agree with him. But even if the bird really does
more harm than good, what is the remedy! For years the rice planters have
been employing men and boys to shoot the birds and drive them away from
the fields, but in spite of the millions slain every year their numbers do not
decrease. In fact, a large part of the loss sustained is not in the grain which
the birds actually eat, but in the outlay necessary to prevent them from taking
it all. At present there seems to be no effective remedy short of complete
extermination of the species, and this is evidently impracticable even were it
desirable.
 THE REDWINGED BLACKBIRD.
(Agelaius phœniceus.)
The redwinged, or swamp, blackbird (fig. 10) is found all over the United
States and the region immediately to the north. While common in most of its
range, its distribution is more or less local, mainly on account of its partiality
for swamps. Its nest is built near standing water, in tall grass, rushes, or
bushes. Owing to this peculiarity the bird may be absent from large tracts of
country which afford no swamps or marshes suitable for nesting. It usually
breeds in large colonies, though single families, consisting of a male with
several wives, may sometimes be found in a small slough, where each of the
females builds, her nest and rears her own little brood, while her liege lord
displays his brilliant colors and struts in the sunshine. In the Upper Mississippi
Valley it finds the conditions most favorable, for the countless prairie sloughs
and the margins of the numerous shallow lakes form nesting sites for
thousands of redwings; and there are bred the immense flocks which
sometimes do so much damage to the grain fields of the West. After the
breeding season is over, the birds collect in flocks to migrate, and remain thus
associated throughout the winter.
Many complaints have been made against the redwing, and several States
have at times placed a bounty upon its head. It is said to cause great damage
to grain in the West, especially in the Upper Mississippi Valley; and the rice
growers of the South say that it eats rice. No complaints have been received
from the Northeastern portion of the country, where the bird is much less
abundant than in the West and South.
An examination of 725 stomachs showed that vegetable matter forms 74
per cent of the food, while the animal matter, mainly insects, forms but 26 per
cent. A little more than 10 per cent consists of beetles, mostly harmful
species, Weevils, or snout-beetles, amount to 4 per cent of the year's food,
but in June reach 25 per cent. As weevils are among the most harmful insects
known, their destruction should condone for at least some of the sins of which
the bird has been accused. Grasshoppers constitute nearly 5 per cent of the
food, while the rest of the animal matter is made up of various insects, a few
snails, and crustaceans. Several dragon flies were found, but these were
probably picked up dead, for they are too active to be taken alive, unless by
one of the flycatchers. So far as the insect food as a whole is concerned, the
redwing may be considered entirely beneficial.

Fig. 10.—Redwinged blackbird.

The interest in the vegetable food of this bird centers around the grain.
Only three kinds, corn, wheat, and oats, were found in appreciable quantities
in the stomachs, and they aggregate but little more than 13 per cent of the
whole food, oats forming nearly half of this amount. In view of the many
complaints that the redwing eats grain, this record is surprisingly small. The
crow blackbird has been found to eat more than three times as much. In the
case of the crow, corn forms one-fifth of the food, so that the redwinged
blackbird, whose diet is made up of only a trifle more than one-eighth of
grain, is really one of the least destructive species; but the most important
item of this bird's food is weed seed, which forms practically the whole food in
winter and about 57 per cent of the whole year's fare. The principal weed
seeds eaten are those of ragweed, barn grass, smartweed, and about a dozen
others. That these seeds are preferred is shown by the fact that the birds
begin to eat them in August, when grain is still readily accessible, and
continue feeding on them even after insects become plentiful in April. The
redwing eats very little fruit and does practically no harm in the garden or
orchard.
While it is impossible to dispute the mass of testimony which has
accumulated concerning its grain-eating propensity, the stomach examinations
show that the habit must be local rather than general. As the area of
cultivation increases and the breeding grounds are curtailed, the species is
likely to become reduced in numbers and consequently less harmful. Nearly
seven-eighths of the redwing's food is made up of weed seed or of insects
injurious to agriculture, indicating unmistakably that the bird should be
protected, except, perhaps, in a few places where it is too abundant.
 THE MEADOW LARK, OR OLD FIELD
LARK.
(Sturnella magna.)
The meadow lark (fig. 11) is a common and well-known bird occurring
from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Plains, where it gives way to a closely
related subspecies, which extends thence westward to the Pacific. It winters
from our southern border as far north as the District of Columbia, southern
Illinois, and occasionally Iowa. Although it is a bird of the plains, finding its
most congenial haunts in the prairies of the West, it does not disdain the
meadows and mowing lands of New England. It nests on the ground and is so
terrestrial in its habits that it seldom perches on trees, preferring a fence rail
or a telegraph pole. When undisturbed, it may be seen walking about with a
peculiar dainty step, stopping every few moments to look about and give its
tail a nervous flirt or to sound a note or two of its clear whistle.
The meadow lark is almost wholly beneficial, although a few complaints
have been made that it pulls sprouting grain, and one farmer claims that it
eats clover seed. As a rule, however, it is looked upon with favor and is not
disturbed.
In the 238 stomachs examined, animal food (practically all insects)
constituted 73 per cent of the contents and vegetable matter 27 per cent. As
would naturally be supposed, the insects were ground species, such as
beetles, bugs, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a few flies, wasps, and
spiders. A number of the stomachs were taken from birds that had been killed
when the ground was covered with snow, but still they contained a large
percentage of insects, showing the bird's skill in finding proper food under
adverse circumstances.
Of the various insects eaten, crickets and grasshoppers are the most
important, constituting 29 per cent of the entire year's food and 69 per cent
of the food in August. It is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon this point, but
it can readily be seen what an effect a number of these birds must have on a
field of grass in the height of the grasshopper season. Of the 238 stomachs
collected at all seasons of the year, 178, or more than two-thirds, contained
remains of grasshoppers, and one was filled with fragments at 37 of those
insects. This seems to show conclusively that grasshoppers are preferred and
are eaten whenever they can be procured. The great number taken in August
is especially noticeable. This is essentially the grasshopper month, i. e., the
month when grasshoppers reach their maximum abundance; and the stomach
examination has shown that a large number of birds resort to this diet in
August, no matter what may be the food during the rest of the year.

Fig. 11.—Meadow lark.

Next to grasshoppers, beetles make up the most important item of the

meadow lark's food, amounting to nearly 21 per cent, of which about one-
third are predaceous ground beetles. The others are all harmful species, and
when it is considered that the bird feeds exclusively on the ground, it seems
remarkable that so few useful ground beetles are eaten. Many of them have a
disgusting odor, and possibly this may occasionally save them from
destruction by birds, especially when other food is abundant. Caterpillars, too,
form a very constant element, and in May constitute over 28 per cent of the
whole food. May is the month when the dreaded cutworm begins its deadly
career, and then the bird does some of its best work. Most of these
caterpillars are ground feeders, and are overlooked by birds which habitually
frequent trees; but the meadow lark finds them and devours them by
thousands. The remainder of the insect food is made up of a few ants, wasps,
and spiders, with a few bugs, including some cinch bugs.
The vegetable food consists of grain, weed, and other hard seeds. Grain in
general amounts to 14, and weed and other seeds to 12 per cent. The grain,
principally corn, is mostly eaten in winter and early spring, and must be
therefore simply waste kernels; only a trifle is consumed in summer and
autumn, when it is most plentiful. No trace of sprouting grain was discovered.
Clover seed was found in only six stomachs, and but little in each. Seeds of
weeds, principally ragweed, barn grass, and smartweed, are eaten from
November to April, inclusive, but during the rest of the year are replaced by
insects.
Briefly stated, more than half of the meadow lark's food consists of
harmful insects; its vegetable food is composed either of noxious weeds or
waste grain, and the remainder is made up of useful beetles or neutral insects
and spiders. A strong point in the bird's favor is that, although naturally an
insect eater, it is able to subsist on vegetable food, and consequently is not
forced to migrate in cold weather any farther than is necessary to find ground
free from snow. This explains why it remains for the most part in the United
States during winter, and moves northward as soon as the snow disappears
from its usual haunts.
There is one danger to which the meadow lark is exposed. As its flesh is
highly esteemed the bird is often shot for the table, but it is entitled to all
possible protection, and to slaughter it for game is the least profitable way to
utilize this valuable species.
 THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE.
(Icterus galbula.)
Brilliancy of plumage, sweetness of song, and food habits to which no
exception can be taken are some of the striking characteristics of the
Baltimore oriole (fig. 12). In summer this species is found throughout the
northern half of the United States east of the Great Plains, and is welcomed
and loved in every country home in that broad land. In the Northern States it
arrives rather late, and is usually first seen, or heard, foraging amidst the
early bloom of the apple trees, where it searches for caterpillars or feeds
daintily on the surplus blossoms. Its nest commands hardly less admiration
than the beauty of its plumage or the excellence of its song. Hanging from the
tip of the outermost bough of a stately elm, it is almost inaccessible, and so
strongly fastened as to bid defiance to the elements.
By watching an oriole which has a nest one may see it searching among
the smaller branches of some neighboring tree, carefully examining each leaf
for caterpillars, and occasionally trilling a few notes to its mate. Observation
both in the field and laboratory shows that caterpillars constitute the largest
item of its fare. In 113 stomachs they formed 34 per cent of the food, and are
eaten in varying quantities during all the months in which the bird remains in
this country, although the fewest are eaten in July, when a little fruit is also
taken. The other insects consist of beetles, bugs, ants, wasps, grasshoppers,
and some spiders. The beetles are principally click beetles, the larvæ of which
are among the most destructive insects known; and the bugs include plant
and bark lice, both very harmful, but so small and obscure as to be passed
over unnoticed by most birds. Ants are eaten mostly in spring, grasshoppers
in July and August, and wasps and spiders with considerable regularity
throughout the season.
Vegetable matter amounts to only a little more than 10 per cent of the
food during the bird's stay in the United States, so that the possibility of the
oriole doing much damage to crops is very limited. The bird has been accused
of eating peas to a considerable extent, but remains of peas were found in
only two stomachs. One writer says that it damages grapes, but none were
found. In fact, a few blackberries and cherries comprised the only cultivated
fruit detected in the stomachs, the remainder of the vegetable food being wild
fruit and a few miscellaneous seeds.

Fig. 12.—Baltimore oriole.

 THE CROW BLACKBIRD, OR GRACKLE.
(Quiscalus quiscula.)
The crow blackbird (fig. 13) or one of its subspecies is a familiar object in
all of the States east of the Rocky Mountains. It is a resident throughout the
year as far north as southern Illinois, and in summer extends its range into
British America. In the Mississippi Valley it is one of the most abundant birds,
preferring to nest in the artificial groves and windbreaks near farms instead of
the natural "timber" which it formerly used. It breeds also in parks and near
buildings, often in considerable colonies. Farther east, in New England, it is
only locally abundant, though frequently seen in migration. After July it
becomes very rare, or entirely disappears, owing to the fact that it collects in
large flocks and retires to some quiet place, where food is abundant and
where it can remain undisturbed during the molting season, but in the latter
days of August and throughout September it usually reappears in immense
numbers before moving southward.

Fig. 13.—Crow blackbird.

It is evident that a bird so large and so abundant may exercise an

important influence upon the agricultural welfare of the country it inhabits.
The crow blackbird has been accused of many sins, such as stealing grain and
fruit and robbing the nests of other birds; but the farmers do not undertake
any war of extermination against it, and, for the most part, allow it to nest
about the premises undisturbed. An examination of 2,258 stomachs showed
that nearly one-third of its food consists of insects, of which the greater part
are injurious. The bird also eats a few snails, crayfishes, salamanders, small
fish, and occasionally a mouse. The stomach contents do not indicate that it
robs other birds' nests to any great extent, as remains of birds and birds' eggs
amount to less than one half of 1 per cent.
It is, however, on account of its vegetable food that the grackle is most
likely to be accused of doing damage. Grain is eaten during the whole year,
and during only a short time in summer is other food attractive enough to
induce the bird to alter its diet. The grain taken in the winter and spring
months probably consists of waste kernels gathered from the stubble. The
stomachs do not indicate that the bird pulls sprouting grain; but the wheat
eaten in July and August, and the corn eaten in the fall, are probably taken
from fields of standing grain. The total grain consumed during the year
constitutes 45 per cent of the whole food, but it is safe to say that at least
half is waste grain, and consequently of no value. Although the crow blackbird
eats a few cherries and blueberries in their season, and some wild fruit in the
fall, it apparently does no damage in this way.
Large flocks of crow blackbirds no doubt do considerable injury to grain
crops, and there seems to be no remedy except the destruction of the birds,
which is in itself expensive. During the breeding season, however, the species
does much good by eating insects and by feeding them to its young, which
are reared almost entirely upon this food. The bird does the greatest amount
of good in spring, when it follows the plow in search of large grub worms, of
which it is so fond that it sometimes literally crams its stomach full of them.
The farmer must decide for himself whether or not these birds cause more
damage than can be repaid by insect destruction; but when they destroy an
entire crop it is no consolation to know that they have already eaten a
multitude of insects which, if left alone, would have accomplished the same
result.
 THE SPARROWS.[2]
[2] The sparrows here mentioned are all native species. For a full
account of the English sparrow, including its introduction, habits, and
depredations, see Bull. No. 1 of the Division of Ornithology, published in
1896.

Sparrows are not obtrusive birds, either in plumage, song, or action. There
are some forty species, with nearly as many subspecies, in North America, but
their differences, both in plumage and habits, are in most cases too obscure
to be readily recognized, and not more than half a dozen forms are generally
known in any one locality. All the species are more or less migratory, but so
widely are they distributed that there is probably no part of the country where
some can not be found throughout the year.
While sparrows are noted seed eaters, they do not by any means confine
themselves to a vegetable diet. During the summer, and especially in the
breeding season, they eat many insects, and probably feed their young largely
upon the same food. An examination of the stomachs of three species—the
song sparrow (Melospiza), chipping sparrow (Spizella socialis), and field
sparrow (Spizella pusilla) (fig. 14)—shows that about one third of the food
consists of insects, comprising many injurious beetles, such as snout-beetles
or weevils, and leaf beetles. Many grasshoppers are eaten, and in the case of
the chipping sparrow these insects form one eighth of the food. Grasshoppers
would seem to be rather large morsels, but the bird probably confines itself to
the smaller species; indeed, this is indicated by the fact that the greatest
amount (over 36 per cent) is eaten in June, when the larger species are still
young and the small species most numerous. Besides the insects already
mentioned, many wasps and bugs are taken. Predaceous and parasitic
Hymenoptera and predaceous beetles, all useful insects, are eaten only to a
slight extent, so that as a whole the sparrows' insect diet may be considered
beneficial.
Their vegetable food is limited almost exclusively to hard seeds. This might
seem to indicate that the birds feed to some extent upon grain, but the
stomachs examined show only one kind—oats—and but little of that. The
great bulk of the food is made up of grass and weed seed, which form almost
the entire diet during winter, and the amount consumed is immense.
 Fig. 14.—Field sparrow.

Anyone acquainted with the agricultural region of the Upper Mississippi

Valley can not have failed to notice the enormous growth of weeds in every
waste spot where the original sward has been disturbed. By the roadside, on
the borders of cultivated fields, or in abandoned fields, wherever they can
obtain a foothold, masses of rank weeds spring up, and often form
impenetrable thickets which afford food and shelter for immense numbers of
birds and enable them to withstand great cold and the most terrible blizzards.
A person visiting one of these weed patches on a sunny morning in January,
when the thermometer is 20° or more below zero, will be struck with the life
and animation of the busy little inhabitants. Instead of sitting forlorn and half
frozen, they may be seen flitting from branch to branch, twittering and
fluttering, and showing every evidence of enjoyment and perfect comfort. If
one of them be killed and examined, it will be found in excellent condition—in
fact, a veritable ball of fat.
The snowbird (Junco hyemalis) and tree sparrow (Spizella monticola) are
perhaps the most numerous of all the sparrows. The latter fairly swarms all
over the Northern States in winter, arriving from the north early in October
and leaving in April. Examination of many stomachs shows thats in Winter the
tree sparrow feeds entirely upon seeds of weeds; and probably each bird
consumes about one-fourth of an ounce a day. In an article contributed to the
New York Tribune in 1881 the writer estimated the amount of weed seed
annually destroyed by these birds in the State of Iowa. Upon the basis of one-
fourth of an ounce of seed eaten daily by each bird, and supposing that the
birds averaged ten to each square mile, and that they remain in their winter
range two hundred days, we shall have a total of 1,750,000 pounds, or 875
tons, of weed seed consumed by this one species in a single season. Large as
these figures may seem, they certainly fall far short of the reality. The
estimate of ten birds to a square mile is much within the truth, for the tree
sparrow is certainly more abundant than this in winter in Massachusetts,
where the food supply is less than in the Western States, and I have known
places in Iowa where several thousand could be seen within the space of a
few acres. This estimate, moreover, is for a single species, while, as a matter
of fact, there are at least half a dozen birds (not all sparrows) that habitually
feed on these seeds during winter.
Farther south the tree sparrow is replaced in winter by the white-throated
sparrow, the white-crowned sparrow, the fox sparrow, the song sparrow, the
field sparrow, and several others; so that all over the country there are a vast
number of those seed eaters at work during the colder months reducing next
year's crop of worse than useless plants.
In treating of the value of birds, it has been customary to consider them
mainly as insect destroyers; but the foregoing illustration seems to show that
seed eaters have a useful function, which has never been fully appreciated.
 THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.
(Zamelodia ludoviciana.)
The beautiful rose-breasted grosbeak (fig. 15) breeds in the northern half
of the United States east of the Missouri River, but spends its winters beyond
our boundaries. Unfortunately it is not abundant in New England, and
nowhere as plentiful as it should be. It frequents groves and orchards rather
than gardens or dooryards, but probably the beauty of the male is the
greatest obstacle to its increase; the fully adult bird is pure black and white,
with a broad patch of brilliant rose color upon the breast and under each
wing. On account of this attractive plumage the birds are highly prized for
ladies' hats; and consequently heave been shot in season and out, till the
wonder is not that there are so few, but that any remain at all.
When the Colorado potato beetle first swept over the land, and naturalists
and farmers were anxious to discover whether or not there were any enemies
which would prey upon the pest, the grosbeak was almost the only bird seen
to eat the beetles. Further observation confirmed the fact, and there can be
no reasonable doubt that where the bird is abundant it has contributed very
much to the abatement of the pest which has been noted during the last
decade. But this is not the only good which the bird does, for many other
noxious insects besides the potato beetle are also eaten.

Fig. 15.—Rose-breasted grosbeak.

 The vegetable food of the grosbeak consists of buds and blossoms of
forest trees, and seeds, but the only damage of which it has been accused is
the stealing of green peas. The writer has observed it eating peas and has
examined the stomachs of several that had been killed in the very act. The
stomachs contained a few peas and enough potato beetles, old and young, as
well as other harmful insects, to pay for all the peas the birds would be likely
to eat in a whole season. The garden where this took place adjoined a small
potato field which earlier in the season had been so badly infested with the
beetles that the vines were completely riddled. The grosbeaks visited the field
every day, and finally brought their fledged young. The young birds stood in a
row on the topmost rail of the fence and were fed with the beetles which their
parents gathered. When a careful inspection was made a few days later, not a
beetle, old or young, could be found; the birds had swept them from the field
and saved the potatoes.
It is easy to advise measures either for increasing the numbers of this bird
or inducing it to take up its residence on the farm. Naturally it inhabits thin,
open woods or groves, and the change from such places to orchards would be
simple—in fact, has already been made in some parts of Pennsylvania and
Ohio. In New England the bird is somewhat rare, and perhaps the best that
can be done here or elsewhere it to see that it is thoroughly protected.